Stories

Tribal Warfare in African Neighborhoods of Chicago (VIDEO)

Chicago is in the grips of a deadly black gang war.

At least 275 people have been killed in the city so far this year and many more have been shot, many of them innocent bystanders to the gang violence. Among the latest victims were 12- and 13-year-old girls shot a night. Sgt. Matt Little leads one of the teams in Chicago's Gang Enforcement Unit. He said there are about 200 such officers in the city - versus 100,000 black gang members. "Almost all the violence we're seeing now is from these gangs."

"When there's a shooting we'll respond to the shooting. We'll figure out where we believe the most likely area for retaliation is and we'll work that area trying to both prevent retaliation and possibly build a case on offenders."

"The gangs have lost their hierarchy, so to speak, and without a chain of command, there's really nobody keeping things in check," Little said. The leaders are mostly in prison -- or dead. Those left are young, reckless, and often terrible shots.

Stay Connected With Us

Subscribe to our mailing list

"Instead of a bullet with somebody's name on it, we have a bullet that reads 'To whom it may concern,'" Little said. The result is a spate of shootings that have killed or wounded young children, even toddlers.

Sgt. Little is a decorated veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. He said that black parts of Chicago are comparable to what he saw in combat. It's "tribal warfare," he said.